


Moments Like This

by Tarlan



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Angst, Community: mcsheplets, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-25
Updated: 2012-08-25
Packaged: 2017-11-12 21:03:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/495615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A milk run mission reminds John and Rodney of the true tragedy of Pegasus.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moments Like This

Rodney tensed at the tiny sound drifting from the back of the jumper; a scrape of a box, the tinkle of metal brushing against metal.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" John asked, barely glancing over.

"I can't believe that with ears like those you didn't hear that," Rodney exclaimed.

John glared this time, finally giving Rodney all of his attention. "Hear what, McKay?"

"That noise in the back of the jumper."

"It was probably something settling. We've got a little more back there than we bargained for."

"Maybe we should check. And by me I mean you?"

"Damn it, Rodney. We are over an hour into a four hour flight back to the nearest Stargate. I was thinking we could do something a little more... comforting than pandering to your paranoia."

Rodney sighed at John's choice of words, watching as John finished putting the jumper onto autopilot. Comforting. Neither of them was feeling particularly horny right now despite the newness of their relationship, but comfort was something Rodney knew they both needed. This mission had not gone as smoothly as they had both anticipated. The Harani had gathered all the raw minerals according to the agreement they had with Atlantis, setting the crates down in the center of the market square, but when John and Rodney arrived on this milk run, there was no one left to greet them. The Wraith had come, and in their increasing hunger they had culled everyone. All that remained of the village was burned out huts with only the desiccated bodies of those drained during the culling left behind. They flew for miles in every direction but anything that registered within range of Rodney's life signs detector was too small to be human. Probably livestock.

The decay was days old.

If they hadn't needed the raw materials provided by the Harani then they would have headed back immediately, and Rodney had felt his stomach lurch into his throat as they carried the heavy crates of minerals on-board without unloading their exchange goods of medicines in return. Also, he knew there was little point in him trying to fix the irrigation system if there were no farmers left to need water in the fields. Instead of the planned overnight stay, they spent an hour checking through the destroyed village for anything worth salvaging before heading back to the jumper.

The first hour had passed in heavy silence, with each of them caught up in their own thoughts, and maybe this was why the sound from the back of the jumper had unnerved him. He watched as John rose from his seat, swinging his seat around so John could kneel before him. Reaching up, John drew him down into a kiss - sweet rather than passionate - breaking it only to lean their foreheads together in a gesture that felt so intimate to them now. They breathed in each other, letting the grief flow between them even though the Harani had been little more than acquaintances to them. 

A scrape from the back had John jerking his head back, hazel eyes holding Rodney's tensely as a muffled sound followed. John rose to his feet while smoothly drawing his gun from his thigh holster. He moved silently towards the rear compartment with Rodney following.

"So, I figure we still have a few hours before we reach the Stargate," John stated, though his actions belied his seemingly normal tone of voice.

"Eh."

John looked back and turned his finger and wrist to indicate Rodney to say something.

"Two hours forty-seven minutes at current velocity." His own voice sounded nervous and, momentarily, he lost his fear when he glared at John for rolling his eyes at him. He whispered harshly, "It's not my fault."

By now John was easing between the crates stacked at the back of the jumper, and Rodney watched as he suddenly moved fast, pulling aside one crate with a resounding crash. A high pitched scream echoed through the jumper; one that was all too human.

"What the..?"

Rodney watched as John holstered his gun and held out his hands, palm forward to show they were empty. He pitched his voice low.

"Hey. It's okay. Come on out. We won't hurt you."

"What is it?" Rodney demanded, craning his neck to get a better view. Movement on the other side of the jumper made him whip his head across to see a small girl ease out from behind some boxes of medical supplies, clutching a doll tightly in her small arms. At least Rodney had thought it was a doll until it squirmed and a tiny arm shot up. A baby.

Slowly, John ushered three small children towards the cockpit area. They were dirty and frightened, huddling together out of fear until the small girl looked at Rodney and smiled. Seconds later - to his horror - he had the baby shoved into his arms while the small girl wrapped herself around his legs. Only then did he recognize the village leader's youngest daughter, recalling the way she had clung to him on his first visit months before, much to everyone's amusement. Her mother had been heavily pregnant at the time.

"You came back for us," she whispered, and Rodney didn't have the heart to say otherwise.

Somehow he ended up back in his seat with the baby still in his arms and with two children seated on the floor, wrapped around his legs, while the other little girl climbed into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.

John was smirking, and Rodney had to wonder anew why kids always seemed to be drawn to him. He tried to detach the octopus child from around his neck, sending pleading eyes to John.

"Suck it up, McKay." But John's tight, sorrowful expression softened the harsh words.

Rodney let the tension flow out of him, and the kids loosened their grips just a little. He watched as John broke into the rations and began making up several meals at once, slowly coaxing the hungry kids away from Rodney's legs and lap. He watched as John broke into the medical supplies and pulled out several boxes of milk powder before ripping the packaging away from a sterilized bottle.

"I saw Carson unpack these last time I took supplies to one of the Hoffan plague outbreaks."

Rodney watched him make up the bottle before handing it to Rodney. Thankfully, those few unavoidable times playing babysitter to Torren paid off, and Rodney watched as the baby took weak pulls from the bottle at first before slowly settling in to feed. It occurred to him then that the baby must have been too weak from hunger to cry.

John sank down next to the children. "What happened?" he asked the older boy, who had to be around eight years old.

"We were playing runaway."

"Runaway?"

"We run off and hide and have to stay there until someone comes for us." His lip quivered. "But no one came."

"Were there any other kids playing runaway?"

The boy nodded his head. "But the bone-face Wraith came and took them all."

Rodney looked away, feeling sick to the stomach at the thought of the Wraith taking even small children. He looked down at the baby in his arms, feeling its tiny fingers brushing against his as it reached for the source of the milk - a sterile bottle rather than its mother's warm breast. At least it was feeding slightly better now.

"Why didn't you come to us when we landed?" John asked softly. "Why did you hide back there?"

"We didn't want you to leave us behind," the boy replied in a small voice.

"We wouldn't have done that," John stated, drawing the boy up against him.

Rodney looked down to see the baby's eyes closing, it's still parted lips falling away from the teat as its head lolled. He felt a moment of panic until he realized the small chest was still rising and falling. Asleep. John reached up and took the bottle from Rodney's hand, placing it aside before pushing to his feet. He grabbed blankets and put them down on the floor, urging the children to lie down, and covering them in a light blanket. They were exhausted and fell asleep immediately.

John returned to the pilot's seat but looked across at Rodney, and at the baby asleep in the crook of his arm.

"You okay?"

"Peachy," Rodney replied, and then felt a little guilty for the sarcasm when John grimaced. "John? I'm... fine."

The next few hours passed with just the low hum of the engines breaking into the silence. The Stargate was on the outer planet in the Harani system, close to the ten thousand year old ruins of a long gone civilization. Rodney listened as John dialed Atlantis and sent through their IDC, warning medical to be on stand by in the jumper bay. Moments later they were in Atlantis and rising up from the gate room.

As the ramp lowered at the back, Rodney could see marines grabbing crates and boxes while Jennifer waited, holding her medical bag. Beyond her he could see two more medical staff with a gurney. Carefully, John lifted the children one at a time and carried them through, handing them over to Jennifer and her staff. Rodney stood up and eased through with the baby still cradled in his arms.

Jennifer stopped him to check but stepped back when Rodney tried to hand over the baby.

"You need a post-mission check up anyway, Rodney, so why don't you carry her to the infirmary for me."

John grasped his shoulder. "I'll follow on in a minute," he said, veering off to speak to Woolsey.

****

**Later:**

In the darkened room it was easy for his thoughts to return to the Harani village, and remember the scent of death and decay filling the air. He thought of all the wasted lives, lost to the Wraith. As the darker thoughts began to seep into his soul, he felt John's arms tighten around him, holding him close.

"We'll find a way to stop them," John whispered, pressing a kiss into Rodney's hair.

Rodney sighed, nuzzling his head against John's hairy chest, and letting the solid thump of John's beating heart drive away the darkness. While they lived, they would work towards a day when Pegasus would be free of the Wraith forever, and as long as they could snatch moments together like this along the way then it would be worth the years of sorrow ahead of them.

END


End file.
